Category Archives: research

inside llewyn davis and the mobius strip narrative

Teaching a film as lit class this term and spending some time this week closely studying Joel and Ethan Coen’s pre-Bob Dylan period film Inside Llewyn Davis. I am particularly interested in the themes of crisis and purposeleness. I also like the feel that the narrative is a mobius strip trapping the main character. I am seeingContinue reading “inside llewyn davis and the mobius strip narrative”

quick thoughts on kubrick and the unsayable

Lately I’ve been obsessed with Stanley Kubrick films. I mention The Shining in class quite often to my students and how it represents an incredible example of psychological dread built into a narrative. A slow and constant ratcheting of tension. (I find myself mentioning films in general quite a bit in creative writing regarding matters of narratology.)Continue reading “quick thoughts on kubrick and the unsayable”

quick note on the three burials of melquiades estrada

Had some time to watch The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada this weekend. I’ve been meaning to watch more Latino themed films for the blog. I admired Guillermo Arriaga’s screenplay which I read won best of at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. I enjoyed the fractured sense of time and how we see the same eventContinue reading “quick note on the three burials of melquiades estrada”

notes on spanglish

Isis Artze–contributing writer to The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education–and her article “Spanglish is Here to Stay” obviously have a similar point of view to Ilan Stavans’ article I studied yesterday morning. She writes it is here to stay and needs attention. She also quotes from Stavans’ article and calls him the foremost scholar on the “linguistic phenomenon”Continue reading “notes on spanglish”

fictive spaces and frank waters’ otherworlds

I should be reading the sixth essay in Bringing the Devil to His Knees. I still want to get through that book but the brain of school has me and I also wanted to finish up the Frank Waters memoir I’ve had on my desk for months. Interesting that the last two books I’ve read haveContinue reading “fictive spaces and frank waters’ otherworlds”

even more thoughts on spanglish

I’ve been thinking more and more about the idea of language in my fiction. It’s something I obsess over. And I guess this whole series of posts began with Richard Hugo and Auden and the idea the writer must love the language they utilize more than the reader. And I do love the mix of SpanishContinue reading “even more thoughts on spanglish”

research and thoughts on spanglish

This last week I’ve mentioned Spanglish in my classes on more than one occasion. My midwest students look at me as if I’m crazy and one even asked me, Is that a real thing? She said it rather dramatically and forcefully. She said it as if I was telling her about something so foreign andContinue reading “research and thoughts on spanglish”

tami show and those puro classicos

I’ve been wanting to write about the TAMI Show for a while. I have the story in my head of Lolo travelling to Denver to see Gerry and the Pacemakers. They probably all have pacemakers now but back in the day this film and travelling concert series almost led Lolo to flunking out of school.Continue reading “tami show and those puro classicos”

Dust Bowl in Southern Colorado

Interesting article in the local newspaper today. The article is about how floods and droughts affected southern Colorado in the 1930’s. It all made me think of the Abuelito and his stories about growing up in Huerfano County and seeing the dust storms over head. I was skeptical of these stories–mostly because the Abuelito wasContinue reading “Dust Bowl in Southern Colorado”